By Poorva Rajaram
Last night’s episode was called “Shaadi ya Barbaadi” and, 5 days in, Abhay has temporarily (?) switched his PhD from Ladies to Shaadi. I’m beginning to think that this show has tapped into some steely reality about PhDs. That you lie around on a couch talking a lot, cocking an eyebrow or two, sounding wishy-washy – only to be vanquished by the wriggliness of your content matter.
If Abhay is anything on this show, it’s defeated. I hate to ask this question, but if you were a chauvinistic man (with a post-dated heart of gold) would you be taken in by Abhay’s quick turnover every episode. He usually begins in that battle of the sexes register – wink, wink, nudge, nudge to the gents – and ends with a pedagogical treatise on self-betterment. Would you trust someone so easily converted? Would you really, really trust such a cool teacher?
Today we heard Preeti’s backstory with Sanju. She agreed to marry him three days after meeting him! It’s a viewing challenge not to ascribe every bad thing that happens to Preeti to that hasty decision. But, I could vaguely see that Sanju must have had charm in the past. I mean, he couldn’t exactly have been worse than he is now.
Pallavi went on a honeymoon to Istanbul, clearly loved it, and returned to procedural marriage issues. I think the soundtrack did her a disservice pre-honeymoon by turning her into the Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye girl. Am I imagining it or does Pallavi have a bit of Zahreela Pyaar in her? Either way, it’s unkind to have someone’s romance circumscribed by 90’s pitchy Lata.
On to Malishka, whose flip-floppiness about marriage is quite trying to sit through. On the one hand, she wants her future husband and herself to “spray-paint each other with chocolate”. On the other hand, she says “meri problem hai ki main itna sampoorna hoon”. I just want to nitpick at this logic for a second. If it’s a problem that you are sampoorna by yourself, then you may not be! Malishka seems destined to work her way into one of her own truisms (however ironically referenced): “If you don’t get Mr. Right, get Mr. Right-now.”.
The episode ends with Abhay declaring marriage to be part of an “adjustment-wala never-ending safar”. I wonder at the wisdom of calling shaadi “never-ending” with two divorced women on the show.
Happily, Hum Tum conceptualizes marriage as a union between two self-willed individuals. Not as an explosion of intruding and utterly jobless relatives. Watch any show before Hum Tum’s 10 pm slot to glimpse this aforementioned explosion.